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L'Aubergine: Laidback Dinner & Drinks in Zamalek

Published On:
09/01/2013

Situated on a small side street off Brazil Street in Zamalek, L’Aubergine has been around for ages. A long time ago, in the nineties, the restaurant and bar sported a much more laid back look; the upstairs area had walls wonderfully cluttered with posters, photographs and other memorabilia and the low tables and dark tones spoke the language of a no-nonsense bar. On the other hand, the ground floor was mostly overlooked in comparison. However, with the turn of the century and an infatuation with ‘modern sleek’, the upstairs bar was no less than destroyed, replacing the old with newer, and definitely, shinier furniture. As disappointing as this was, the downstairs area also changed, and thankfully for the better.

The restaurant on the ground floor oozes warmth as you step in. The terracotta coloured walls speckled with purple and deep red illustrations, the ambient lighting and simple furniture invite you to have a relaxed dinner and drinks. Among the bustling conversations, the service is attentive and quick. The menu hasn’t changed much over the years and would especially cater to vegetarians with many interesting non-meat options such as vegetarian couscous (32LE), ricotta/mint ravioli with yoghurt sauce (34LE), pumpkin kobeiba and their known to be delicious mushroom quartet (38LE).

We started with a ruccola and mushroom salad (29LE) and grilled halloumi cheese (32LE). The salad was fresh with big chunks of mushroom and the grilled halloumi had a nice consistency, grilled to perfection, with chopped tomatoes on top that worked very well with the saltiness of the cheese. Bread is served before the meal, and it’s a nice to touch to ask it to be heated.

The chicken teriyaki main course (48LE) was tasty, with a slight kick of spice and tender pieces of chicken lathered in teriyaki sauce. The rice could have been a bit smoother and the sauce a little bit lighter, but overall it was enjoyable. The gnocchi with Bolognese sauce (36LE) was also very good, being well seasoned and full of flavour. However, the gnocchi pieces themselves are quite large and could fill you up rather quickly.

They serve most alcohols at L’Aubergine, with the actual bar placed upstairs, though. A Heineken beer goes for 31LE, and as the most expensive wine, a glass of Ayam Zaman costs 50LE, while a tequila shot is priced at 50LE.

The atmosphere is perfect for Thursday night drinks and a snack, or even a date. The chilled out music makes for a relaxed setting and the overall prices are relatively decent. If you’ve finished your meal and feeling like a little more action, maybe pop up to the upper floor and check out the shiny bar, younger crowds and pumping music. Otherwise, downstairs is the way to go.

L’Aubergine’s
second-floor bar is undoubtedly one of Cairo’s hottest nightspots with a
regular following amassed over the years. Recently, the bar underwent a minor
but noticeable makeover with a new name, i-Tek. Although it was rumoured to be
equipped with a futuristic, modern décor, our first glance through the dark bar
revealed that, beside the i-Tek Bar slogan etched in Plexiglas along the bar,
very little was noticeably different. As we were soon
to discover, the new name is more of a marketing scheme than a makeover: i-Tek
refers to the variety of Kent cigarettes (such as 3-Tek, as visible on a pack of Premium Lights 8); ingenious
marketing, indeed. A quick look around proved that in spite of the arrival of
the new cocktails; most patrons prefer Stella and Heineken. Despite its
rebranding, L’Aubergine’s bar is every bit the poorly lit, laidback bar crammed
with a youthful crowd and suffocating ventilation. However, we did
catch a lucky find for FIFA World Cup fans: For the duration of the World Cup,
the traditional menu is replaced by a menu booklet (i-Tek branded, of course) featuring
dishes from each and every participating country. Some of the items are
predictable, such as guacamole from Mexico, caprese salad from Italy, and Uruguayan
breaded veal. Less common items
include the govoba cremna juha, a potato-based soup from Slovenia (20LE); Brazilian ximxim (45LE)
and the most eyebrow-raising of all, the Australian ‘the works’ burger topped
with lettuce, tomato, onion, beef bacon, a fried egg and pineapple (40LE). The
list proves that the kitchen has done its geographic and culinary research; with
each item clearly marked with a flag emblem of the appropriate country. After much humming
and hawing we decided to select the table’s preferred teams and choose dishes
from each. With the venue barely filled during the match (although it was
before midnight on a Saturday evening) our Italian lasagne 4 formagi (38LE), Argentinean
chimichurri (68LE) and Japanese chicken teriyaki (41LE) arrived in a mere 25
minutes. The chimichurri
was not the traditional parsley-infused topping; with a well-done grilled
fillet portioned into strips and topped with a green sauce with an acute taste
of citrusy-lemon. The side of mashed potatoes tasted suspiciously of a box mix,
but the dish was tasty nonetheless. The teriyaki chicken came in a sweet sauce,
morsels of chicken cubes mixed in with a healthy dose of red onions, and complemented
by a mountain of plain steamed rice. The lasagne 4 formagi,
by far the simplest of selections, won the highest approval, and
consequentially it disappeared from its plate the fastest. Soft sheets of pasta
filled with ricotta, tomato sauce and basil made a pleasant ensemble, and was
eagerly polished off. While our evening
did not turn out exactly as planned, we give credit to L’Aubergine for producing
a catchy feature for Cairo’s
World Cup fans.

When it comes to Cairo nightlife, there’s an increasing variety of bars, clubs and pubs to choose from. There are, however, staples that have become second homes to nocturnal Cairenes; venues that have been there for what feels like forever; ones that you can turn to when experimenting with the newer venues is just too much of a hassle. For Maadi residents, the Red Onion has been one such place.

Looking quite small and demure from the outside, the bar and restaurant is located on one of Maadi’s quieter side streets and is almost easy to miss. Stepping inside, you find yourself in a stuffy, dimly-lit space with off-white walls and several small tables occupied by loud crowds.

A rather confusing and loud playlist does nothing to compliment what looks to be a traditional Mediterranean theme that the interior design is trying almost too hard to portray. Ragheb Alama sings his heart out on one of his 2007 tracks followed by Usher’s infamous ‘Yeah’ – you get the picture.

A waiter scurries amongst the clouds of smoke filling the air and is immediately by our side ready to take our order. When asked for menus, he simply said “we offer everything, just shoot” – a rather odd and quite perplexing response. Not actually wanting to order food, we dismissed the waiter’s peculiar answer.

Whereas a can of regular soda will set you back 13LE, a Stella beer will cost you 20LE – it doesn’t make sense, but little in Cairo ever does. While cocktail prices vary, they do so within reason. We opted for a Tequila Sunrise (30LE) and a whiskey and Coke (69LE).

Our drinks came within a few minutes accompanied by a small bowl of salted popcorn and another of Lupini beans, which were devoured within minutes and were, sadly, not refilled throughout the night.

The Tequila Sunrise was very peachy and refreshing, while the whiskey and Coke had a surprisingly large serving of whiskey – we aren’t complaining.

Service wise, the waiters are quite efficient and you can always spot one standing somewhere nearby. The drinks arrived swiftly and were of sufficient quality, as well as comparatively very low prices.

All in all, Red Onion has retained its satisfactory level of service and its interior hasn’t changed at all. The loud crowds and even louder, outdated background music can, however, be a tad unsettling especially if you’re simply looking to unwind after a long day. To compare the Red Onion with Cairo's more modern bars would be unfair, however; this is one nightlife spot that very much relies on a steady stream of regulars. You can by all means enjoy a night there, just don't expect five-star anything. Or four-star anything for that matter.